AIS ship and cargo type · Tankers
AIS ship type 81: Tanker, hazardous category A
Ship type 81 is the tankers family, units digit 1: hazardous category A. What it means, what it does not, and how many vessels we can hear sending it right now.
What code 81 means
Liquid bulk carriers: crude oil, refined product, chemical and gas tankers all share the 8x family. The units digit, where it is used, is the operator’s declaration about hazardous cargo, not the tanker’s design.
A units digit of 1 is the operator declaring hazardous category A cargo on board — the standard groups dangerous goods, harmful substances and marine pollutants into categories A to D. It is a voluntary, hand-entered declaration, not a manifest.
Reading the two digits
- Tens digit 8 → the tankers family, codes 80–89.
- Units digit 1 → hazardous category A.
- Therefore: Tanker, hazardous category A.
Every code in the 80–89 range
| Code | Meaning |
|---|---|
| 80 | Tanker |
| 81 | Tanker, hazardous category A |
| 82 | Tanker, hazardous category B |
| 83 | Tanker, hazardous category C |
| 84 | Tanker, hazardous category D |
| 85 | Tanker, reserved |
| 86 | Tanker, reserved |
| 87 | Tanker, reserved |
| 88 | Tanker, reserved |
| 89 | Tanker, no additional information |
What the code is not
The ship-and-cargo type is typed into the transponder by whoever installs or operates it. No authority checks it against the ship’s certificates, and it is broadcast in the static report every six minutes whether or not it is right. It describes what the operator says the vessel is, not what it is doing — that is the job of the navigational status.
For the whole decade structure in one read, see AIS ship type codes explained.